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Jordan carried out airstrikes on targets in southern Syria on the evening of Monday 26 October 2026. Jordanian officials described the strikes as retaliation for a deadly shooting at a church in Karak, a town about 90 kilometres south of Amman. Al Jazeera reports that at least four sites were hit in the rural Deraa and Suweyda provinces, and that at least seven people were killed, including three children, according to Syria's Civil Defence.
The church attack came first. Al Jazeera reports that three gunmen opened fire on mourners at a funeral in a Greek Orthodox church in Karak on Friday 23 October, killing at least nine people and wounding dozens. Jordanian security forces then arrested two brothers and a brother-in-law after a shootout that lasted about three hours, according to a Jordanian government source. Gulf News, in its live coverage, gives the toll from the attack as nine.
Al Jazeera's account of the strike sites lists four locations. At al-Tai in Deraa, a tent was hit and five members of one family were killed, a man, a woman and three children. At al-Shayyah, also in Deraa, an 80-year-old man died. At Shahba in Suweyda, a residential building was hit and a 60-year-old man was killed. A residential building at Muzayrib in Deraa was struck, with no casualties reported.
Jordan's government spokesman, Mohammad al-Momani, said the strikes killed 20 Islamic State fighters, while acknowledging that some civilians had died, according to Al Jazeera and Gulf News. The Jordanian Armed Forces said it targeted hideouts of armed groups in south-eastern Syria and that the operation was carried out in coordination with the Syrian government.
Damascus disputes that account. The Syrian government said the strikes went ahead without prior coordination or notification and that it had opened an investigation. An unnamed Syrian Foreign Ministry official called the strikes a treacherous attack. Syria then closed the Nassib crossing, its only passenger and commercial crossing with Jordan, suspending traffic in both directions.
King Abdullah II pledged a stern response and said those responsible would face the harshest penalties, Al Jazeera reports. Gulf News, citing Syrian health officials in Daraa as reported by state media, puts civilian deaths at eight, so the tolls differ between reports. The Syrian civil defence said it had recovered seven bodies.
Several questions remain open. The figure of 20 fighters killed has not been independently verified in the coverage reviewed, and the total civilian toll is still being counted. It is also unclear what the outcome of Syria's investigation will be, whether the suspects arrested over the church attack will face charges in Jordan, and whether the dispute over coordination leads to further strikes or diplomatic steps.
The dispute matters beyond the immediate casualties. Whether Amman coordinated the strikes with Damascus goes to the core of security cooperation between the two neighbours, and the Nassib closure cuts a land link that both governments watch closely. How quickly the two sides move from accusation to a formal channel will show whether the border dispute is a short-term flare-up or a longer strain.
Sources
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